The panel included the late Senator Edward Kennedy who talked about his regrets about the 1965 Act.

Senator Edward Kennedy: What we have seen is sort of these dramatic changes in the immigration bill. Prior to the '65 act, we had about 30,000 Irish that were coming in, and then we had those reduced to about 20,000. But then with the changes that were made and even the acceptance of the diversity program, each and every one of those brought a gradual reduction, really unintended. What we were trying to do was eliminate the discrimination that existed in the law, but the way that that legislation was developed worked in a very dramatic and significant way against the Irish.